08/11/2013: Weekly Recycling Round Up

This week in gadget recycling: Sprint is named the best at e-waste management in the US, the most polluted places in the world are revealed and a recycling company reveal outstanding profits for the third quarter.

Can’t get enough? There’s more below.

E-Waste Systems hits record third quarter profits

E-Waste Systems deals with huge amounts of electronics

Electronics waste management company E-Waste Systems has announced preliminary record third quarter revenues – that should exceed 4.5 million USD. Also working in technology and reverse logistics – it claims to be the first public pure e-waste company. These results are subject to its independent auditor review for 2013 – and would show a 60 percent increase in revenue from the second quarter of the same year. The company also predicts that full year profits by the end of December will exceed 12 million USD. Third quarter plans saw agreements to develop e-plants in 3 different continents next year, so the company’s growth is obvious. The e-waste market is expected to see huge progression over the next few years too, as stricter recycling and environmental guidelines are set in place.

The Guardian recently revealed that Sprint is the leading US network carrier for e-waste management – while competitors Verizon and AT&T fall behind. Following news from the Environmental Protection Agency that only around 11 percent of smartphones and tablets are being recycled properly, the newspaper requested actual figures from the networks on how much they could prove they recycle. Sprint is a huge way in front of all other carriers, recycling the equivalent of 44 percent of its smartphone sales last year – compared to only 11.4 percent for AT&T. Verizon revealed that it recycled or reused the equivalent of 28 percent of all of its sales last year, not just smartphones. T-Mobile told the Guardian that it didn’t list its figures. Greenpeace International’s Senior IT analyst Gary Cook said there is room for improvement with all cariers, but Sprint seem to be taking sustainability issues more seriously.

A newly revealed list of 2013’s most polluted towns, suggests that 200 million people’s lives are at risk due to hazardous waste. Non-profit organisation Blacksmith Institute lists the most polluted places as:

Agbogbloshie, Ghana

Chernobyl, Ukraine

Citarum River, Indonesia

Dzershinsk, Russia

Hazaribagh, Bangladesh

Kabwe, Zambia

Kalimantan, Indonesia

Matanza Riachuelo, Argentina

Niger River Delta, Nigeria

Norilsk, Russia

Experts note that many of these places are in developing countries – with some being home to e-waste processing centres. The International Business Times writes that Kalimantan in Indonesia accounts for 30 percent of total mercury emissions in the world, while Citarum River is a dumping ground full of household and industrial waste including lead and cadmium – all of these chemicals can be found inside electronics.

Blacksmith Institute say that the problem is actually a lot bigger than just these ten cities – with 200 million people potentially at risk from the hazardous waste. For this reason it is now especially important to raise awareness of these effects, and ensure recycling companies around the world comply with environmental legislation.

Do you want to know about mobile phone recycling? We have tons more information on our Phone Recycling Facts page! Or just pop us a question on the comments below, tweet us, write on our wall or get in touch on Google Plus. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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Sami Colenutt is a tech enthusiast and writer for CompareMyMobile.com. She writes about anything from the latest mobile phones to the environmental benefits of recycling your old gadgets in the right way. You can follow her on Twitter, Google+ or Linkedin.